Page 51 of Visions of You

"I had hoped that was all in the past," she said in a soft voice as she sat with him.

Jaron's heart sank at her reaction. "So it's true?"

He didn't want it to be, damn it.

He didn't want the witch who'd cared so much about him to be a bad person. He also didn't want his mom to be 'right.'

Malkira shook her head. "Not the way the story went around in the media," she said. "I was working at a research facility, yes, but I had nothing to do with the creation of that disease. When I found out what they were doing, I tried to stop them, but it was too late."

Jaron listened as Malkira explained how she'd tried to convince her higher-ups that the experiments they were doing were too dangerous, but that the damage had already been done. The disease had escaped, and all dragonkind had suffered the consequences.

Was that why his mom claimed Malkira hated dragons?

"Why did the article make it sound like it was your fault?" Jaron asked with a growing sense of injustice.

"Because I was nobody," Malkira said simply. "It was easy for them to shift the blame onto me. They tried, at least. I was never prosecuted because there was no evidence against me." She sighed. "But the rumors persisted, and my reputation was ruined. That's why I left my old town and came here, to start over."

Jaron felt terrible for dragging her right back into the past she'd tried to leave behind. "I'm so sorry," he said softly. "I had no idea."

Malkira squeezed his hand, a sad smile on her face. "It's not your fault. I should have told you, I suppose, but I didn't want you to think less of me."

Jaron shook his head. "I could never think less of you. You've been like a mother to me, and I know you would never do anything to hurt anyone."

Malkira's smile faltered. "Thank you, Jaron," she whispered. "That means more to me than you know."

Jaron reassured her again.

He wasn't going to listen to his mother's poison.

What did she know?

CHAPTER 12

The next morning, Jaron knew he was going to come off as desperate, but he couldn't help himself. Before he knew it, he was standing outside the Rubyville nightclub, just after first light.

He tried to rationalize his behavior to himself. He had to see Keegan before work, right? To see if he had any new information on the kidnapping case that Apollo would want to know about.

Deep down, though, Jaron knew that wasn't why he was here. He just wanted to see his mate after spending a whole night away.

Stupidly, he still hadn't asked Keegan for his number, so he found himself in front of closed doors again. This time, though, when he rang the doorbell, someone let him in quickly. The vampires were still cleaning up the bar area inside and hadn't gone to sleep yet.

The vampire who greeted him first, a short man with pale blond hair, eyed him up and down curiously. "You Keegan's dragon?"

"Yup, that's him," someone called from the back.

Jaron turned to the sound of that voice to spot Mordyn. This morning, his hair was a shade of blue that reminded Jaron of midnight storms.

Jaron met him at the bar. "Hey."

Mordyn smiled at him while putting away a rag he'd used to wipe down the bar counter. "You here for our seer?"

"Maybe I just wanted a drink," Jaron suggested, trying to appear more casual than he felt. "You know, hair of the dog and all that."

Mordyn fixed him with a look. "I'm an empath."

Well, fuck. Jaron might as well stop trying to appear anything less than desperate then. "I came to check on Keegan," he admitted. "Figured I'd try to catch you before you all turn into bats and hang from the rafters for the day."

"We don't have anyone here who can turn into a bat," Mordyn said. "We've always got a few crows hanging around, but I know you're not here for those."